leather roads - Monday, March 15th, 2010

We are all playing the same course. Author Dr. Joseph Parent nails this key point in his book, “Zen Golf, Mastering the Mental Game.”
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“Somewhere in ancient India, there was a king whose feet were very sensitive. He complained constantly about the kingdom’s roads, which were rough and rocky. Finally, the king decided he would have all the roads covered with leather, so that he could walk on leather anywhere he wanted to go and his feet would be comfortable.
He invited the best craftsmen in the land to bid on this formidable project. One replied, “I can do the job, but it will cost all that is in the kingdom’s treasury.” Another said, “I can cover the roads with leather for half of what is in the treasury.” Then an old woman came to the king and said, “I can do the job for ten rupees. I’ll just strap a piece of leather under each of your feet, and you’ll be walking on leather wherever you go.”

When things aren’t the way we’d like them to be, there’s a tendency to complain.
Jack Nicklaus said that at many tournaments he felt he only had to beat a few of his competitors. When he’d hear players complain about conditions, he’d check them off one by one, thinking to himself, “There’s a guy who won’t be in contention.” There’s another one I don’t have to worry about.” By the time the tournament started, not many were left.”

Complaining, wanting all the conditions to be just the way we’d like them, doesn’t get us anywhere. In fact, we’re just distracting ourselves from the task at hand. Instead of complaining, recognize that everyone has to play the same course.

-“Zen Golf, Mastering the Mental Game” by Dr. Joseph
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You don’t have to be perfect. The circumstances don’t have to be perfect. All you have to do is be better than your opponent, and do that five times. Your opponent has all of the same obstacles that you do. Everything doesn’t have to go perfectly in a match either. There is plenty of time to make up for a mistake. There is plenty of time to make up for something that doesn’t go as planned. The best way to get what you want is to be relentless and unwilling to settle for anything less.

What can you control? Really not much, except the most important thing, and that’s your attitude. You can control and choose your attitude. You can control your effort. You can control what you are going to do with your hands and feet for 420 seconds.

You give yourself the best chance to win by getting the most out of what you can control and allowing the uncontrollables to take care of themself.

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